Cimon was an ancient Athenian general and statesman. He lived around the 5th century BC. He was a son of the great Miltiades. He fought against the Persians in the battle of Salamis in 480 BC and shared with Aristides the chief command of the fleet sent to Asia to deliver the Greek colonies from the Persian yoke.
The return of Aristides to Athens soon after left Cimon at the head of the whole naval force of Greece. He distinguished himself by his achievements in Thrace, having defeated the Persians by the Strymon, and made himself master of the country. He conquered the pirate-island of Scyros, subdued all the cities on the coast of Asia Minor, pursued the Persian fleet up the Eurymedon, destroyed more than 200 of their ships, and then, having landed, on the same day entirely defeated their army in 469 BC. He employed the spoil which he had taken in the embellishment of Athens, and in 463 reduced the revolted Thasians; but the popular leaders, beginning to fear his power, charged him on his return with having been corrupted by the King of Macedon. The charge was dropped, but when Cimon's policy of friendship to the Lacedaemonians ended in the latter insulting the troops sent by Athens to their aid, his opponents secured his banishment.
He retired into Boeotia, and his request to be allowed to fight with the Athenians against the Lacedaemonians in 457 at Tanagra was refused by the suspicious generals. Eventually Cimon was recalled at the instance of Pericles to conclude a peace with Lacedaemon. He died shortly after, in 449, while besieging Citium in Cyprus. Research Cimon
In Greek mythology, Lacedaemon was a son of Zeus and Taygete. He married Sparte. He was King of
Lacedaemon and named the capital city Sparta after his wife. Research Lacedaemon
Abbreviations
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